James Murray (British Army officer, born 1721)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

James Murray
15th Regiment of Foot
Battles/wars
RelationsPatrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank (brother)
Patrick Ferguson (nephew)
Other workGovernor of the Province of Quebec (1760–1768)

Governor of Minorca
(1778–1782)

Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull
(1783)

Province of Quebec was noted for its successes, being marked by positive relationships with French Canadians, who were reassured of the traditional rights and customs. Murray died in Battle, East Sussex in 1794.[1][2]

Early life

Born in Ballencrieff, East Lothian, Murray was a younger son of Lord Elibank Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank, and his wife, Elizabeth Stirling. His cousin was Alexander Murray (British Army officer, died 1762) who served in Nova Scotia.[3] Educated in Haddington, East Lothian, and Selkirk, Scottish Borders, he began his military career in 1736 in the Scots Brigade of the Dutch state Army. In 1740 he served as a second lieutenant in Royal Marines Wynyard's Marines under his brother Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank, in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias unsuccessful attack on Cartagena, Colombia. He returned as a captain in 1742. He served as captain of the grenadier company of the 15th Regiment of Foot during the War of the Austrian Succession. He was severely wounded during the Siege of Ostend in 1745 and distinguished himself in the Raid on Lorient in 1746. In December 1748, he married Cordelia Collier, who was from Hastings.


Career in Canada

James Murray purchased a commission for major in the 15th Regiment of Foot in 1749, and the

lieutenant-colonelcy in 1751. He commanded his regiment in the Raid on Rochefort in 1757, defending Sir John Mordaunt in his subsequent court-martial. He commanded a battalion in the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg
along with his brother Alexander.

When Louisbourg was taken, Murray accompanied General Wolfe on a raiding expedition northwards in the

Burnt Church
.

Murray served under General

Lévis managed to defeat Murray and the British in the Battle of Sainte-Foy in 1760. As a result, the French managed to lay siege to Quebec
but this had to abandoned due to a lack of supplies and the arrival of a British relief fleet.

He encouraged his favourite nephew

Lord Pitfour.[5] He also assisted another nephew, Patrick Murray, illegitimate son of his brother, George
.

Murray's successful part in the British

advance on Montreal in which he pacified many of the French Canadians, showed his true worth as a military commander and a negotiator. On 5 September 1760, Murray signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Huron Nation, then residing at Lorette, near Quebec City. In 1990, that treaty was found by the Supreme Court of Canada to still be valid and binding on the Crown.[6]

Governor of Quebec

In October 1760, he became military governor of the district of Quebec and became the first civil governor of the

French-Canadians, favouring them over British merchants who came to settle in the wake of the conquest. He allowed the continuance of French civil law because at the time the French outnumbered the British 25:1 and he needed to be careful not to incite discontent or rebellion. The dissatisfaction of British settlers led to his recall in 1766 (although he remained governor in name until 1768), but his precedents were preserved in the Quebec Act of 1774. Murray successfully argued for the Quebec Act to continue slavery in Quebec as it had existed under the French;[citation needed] an advertisement appeared in the Quebec Gazette in 1769 for a "negro woman, aged 25 years, with a mulatto male child... formerly the property of General Murray".[9]

On his return to Great Britain he was appointed Colonel of the 13th Regiment of Foot, a post he held from 1767 to 1789.

Minorca

Further information:
Invasion of Minorca, 1781

Murray was

American War of Independence, he defended Fort St. Philip, at Port Mahon
, against a Franco-Spanish siege for seven months (1781–82), until forced to surrender. He was known as ‘Old Minorca’ Murray as a result.

He then returned to his home,

Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1783, and Colonel of the 21st (Royal North British) Fusiliers
in 1789. His body was laid to rest in the apse of the now ruined Old St Helen's Church, Hastings.

Family

His first marriage had been childless, but by his second, he had six children (two of whom died in infancy):

  • James Patrick Murray, later a major general, who married Elizabeth Rushworth
  • Cordelia Murray, who married Rev. Henry Hodges
  • Wilhelmina Murray, married
    James Douglas, 4th Baron Douglas
    .
  • George Murray (died in infancy)
  • Elizabeth Mary Murray (died in infancy)
  • Anne Harriet Murray

He and his wife also brought up his older brother Patrick, Lord Elibank's illegitimate daughter Maria Murray.

Popular culture

Murray appears in the 2004 film Battle of the Brave (Nouvelle-France) in his role as Governor of the new-captured Quebec. He is portrayed by Michael Maloney.[citation needed] He also appears in the same capacity in three episodes of the mini-series Marguerite Volant, where he is portrayed by Graham Harley.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Mason Wade, The French Canadians 1760-1967 (1975) 1:47-92
  2. ^ Aberlady parish register OPR 702/20 193
  3. ^ Johnston, G. Harvey, The Heraldry of the Murrays, W. & A. K. Johnston Ltd. Edinburgh and London, 1910 - in which ‘Pedigree VII, The Murrays of Falahill’ shows Alexander as 5th cousin 2R of Alexander (8th Lord Elibank), eldest brother of James.
  4. ^ Anderson 2000, p. 789.
  5. ISBN 978-0-9512736-4-7
    . Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  6. ^ R. v. Sioui, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 1025 [1]
  7. ^ "No. 10354". The London Gazette. 4 October 1763. p. 3.
  8. ^ "No. 10507". The London Gazette. 23 March 1765. p. 1.
  9. ISBN 0-00-200553-0
    .
  10. ^ Marguerite Volant on IMDb[2]

References

Primary sources

External links


Government offices
Preceded by
Governor of the Province of Quebec

1764–1768 		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Colonel of the 2nd Battalion,
60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot
1759–1767 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
New office
 Governor of Quebec
1760–1774 		Succeeded by
James Johnston
Preceded by Colonel of the 13th Regiment of Foot
1767–1789 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
James Johnston
Lieutenant-Governor of Minorca

1774–1778 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
John Mostyn
Governor of Minorca

1778–1782 		Ceded to Spain
Preceded by
Philip Honywood
Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull

1785–1794 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of the 21st Regiment of Foot
1789–1794 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Murray_(British_Army_officer,_born_1721)&oldid=1219317458"